Valentine's Day in the Ninth Circle
by RikuNghts
Summary: Based on Rob Thurman's Nightlife. Spoilers for Madhouse. Cal's working at the bar on Valentine's Day with a drunk Robin and agitated Ishiah. Ishiah takes Robin away to get sober, and Cal makes a small discovery. Robin/Ishiah


It had to be done. I love Rob Thurman's books too much not to have done it, so here it is.

Warnings: Spoilers for Madhouse, book 3.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they are the property of own genius known as Rob Thurman. I own the books though! Go out and buy them!

Pairings: Robin/Ishiah

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Robin was drunk.

Again.

It really shouldn't have surprised me very much, since it was such a frequent occurrence, but it did this time. I guess not because he was drunk, but because he was drunk_ here_. And he was alone. On Valentine's Day.

"Now he was a god that should have his own holiday. Even today! Humans have such a backwards way of worship today," he slurred, bottle of his regular in his hand. He'd decided to forego the glass tonight. I guess he just wanted to get drunk faster. Ishiah wasn't pleased. Then again, when was he really? His wings were visible over his shoulder, and he shot the puck a disgusted look.

"Are you finished yet?" he asked, not quite ready to have him thrown out. The last time that'd happened, Danyeal ended up temporarily paralyzed by an Amadán. As it was, Danyeal was already scanning the bar crowd to see if there were any present tonight. There weren't. Things couldn't go too bad if he had to be removed.

"Eros. Cupid. He was gorgeous when he grew up a bit. Still not as good-looking as me, of course," he kept up.

"Oh, of course not," I replied, wiping down the bar and not quite listening. Come to think of it, Robin had been coming here more and more frequently since the ordeal just a couple of short months ago. "I bet he was bigger than you."

Ishiah tossed a glance my way, curious, and I gave him a grin. I hoped it looked as nasty as I meant it to. He snorted and looked away, moving down the curved bar to talk to Cambriel. We were all working tonight. Valentine's was apparently a busy season for bars. I guess even non-humans get lonely during holidays.

Robin looked up at me, eyes unfocused and angry. "He was a boy. He could never beat my impressive-"

"Hey, puck. Quit talking, or you'll scare all the customers away." Danyeal never looked away from the glass he cleaned as he methodically set it down. If Ishiah was tense, Danny was even more so. I expected to see that crazy burst of fire and light that I'd seen with Ish before, when a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, Danny. Don't any of you have places to be, girls to see?" Come to think of it, I'd never seen a female peri, let alone hear about one. If they didn't exist, it would lend another bit of evidence towards the myth about peri's really being part angel.

I still wanted to see a halo though. My mind wandered and started wondering if maybe they kept them at their apartment when Robin roughly pushed himself up, tried to stand, and started to fall. I reached over the bar to grab his hand, but Ishiah had seen it and smoothly vaulted over the slick bar top and was behind him in a second, holding him up.

He sighed. "Come on, puck. Let's get you sober."

"Sober's never any fun," Robin laughed, leaning heavily on the peri. Ishiah sighed again, shaking his head and headed towards the back of the bar. He was going to let him sleep it off out back, how nice.

The next hour was uneventful. An Amadán came in and Danyeal kept his distance, as did a few vampires. Same crowd as usual, but Ish hadn't come back out. I frowned at the back door and hoped they weren't fighting. Though if they had been, we'd have heard it. Someone would have come out a mess, and from the way Robin was, most likely him. Then again, you never could be too sure…

I decided it would be best to check on them. It was slow enough, and Cam and Danny were still working, so I slipped into the backroom and headed for Ishiah's office at the rear. There was a faint murmur coming from the partially open door. Huh. I stopped and listened. Granted, my sense of smell was better than my hearing, but they were talking so low I couldn't hear. I strained and leaned closer, but still nothing.

Oh, hell. Curiosity killed the cat, but I wasn't a cat, so no worries there. I carefully peered into the open crack… and nearly fell on my ass.

Robin was half reclined on the couch Ish kept in his office, his body held up by the arm. Ishiah leaned over him, one knee on the couch, and was leaning down towards his face. If he'd been a vampire, and not peri, I'd have wondered, but he wasn't. And he was. He did. He kissed him. Ishiah. Kissed. Robin.

Well, of course I knew Robin had a thing for him. Hell, I'd figured it out weeks ago when I'd realized just how much Ish looked like Niko. But Ishiah returning the sentiment? Nah…

Wait. He had been looking out for Robin… and when Robin had been hurt, Ishiah had taken it upon himself to get him to help the quickest way. Shit, how could I have missed it? I looked back in the room in time to see Robin slip an arm up Ishiah's shoulder, one hand curving behind his neck to drag him down for a harder kiss. If one thing could sober him up, it was sex. And Ishiah said…

I pushed away from the door, shaking my head. No, no. I was not going there. I didn't want to see that, or think of that. I was back in the main bar seconds later, a scowl on my face. Damn Ishiah, not shutting his door the whole way. Danyeal looked at me and grinned, then went back to wiping down a glass.

"See something that caught your interest, pretty boy?" he asked, mimicking Delilah's nickname for me. I punched him as I walked by. He laughed again, shaking his head.

"You knew?"

"Of course we knew."

"Cam too?" He nodded. "Shit, why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have believed us?"

I started to open my mouth to say of course then shut it. No, I wouldn't have. I sulked back to my place, scowling at the pixie in front of me, causing her to shrink back from the bar.

"You might have decent vision, and a superior sense of smell, but you're blind," Danny continued. "I'm surprised you haven't smelled Ishiah on him."

"Okay, now that's just wrong."

"What's so wrong about it?"

"Well, Ishiah hates him." It was true. At least, I thought it was. Danny laughed again and I threw my towel at him. Great. Now I'd never live this one down, and if either Robin or Ishiah knew, they'd kick my ass too. I sighed. Was it time to go home yet?


End file.
